Chapter Six
He had been driving for days, after going back to Jacob's to retrieve Alice's letter, he had kept going. Keeping out of sight as much as possible, he had travelled on back roads, and deserted highways. At first he had no idea where he was headed. He just knew he had to get out of Forks. After driving for several hundred miles, he did a u-turn without thinking about it, realising that he had turned himself in the direction of Alaska, to Bella, to salvation.
Was this how she felt, the thought crossed his mind several hundred times every hour. He gripped the steering wheel so tight he thought it might crumble his hands.
The letter on the passenger seat, sitting there, daring him to open it. He couldn't do it, it was no use, he could not open it without Bella beside him. He knew whatever there was in the letter she would have wanted to Bella to read it too.
Sweet lovely Alice, his saviour, his guardian, his little angel. She must have known all along that Jasper had had feelings for Bella, he had thought he had hid it quite well and he had always reasoned that it was her blood that attracted him to her but even when she became a vampire, the longing was still there, deeply entrenched, waiting to be brought out into the sunlight. Alice must have known along, now that was another regret to eat away at him, one of thousands. She died knowing that she was not his one and only.
Why, why, kept circling in his mind like a rabid vulture. Why now, why did Jacob wait until now.
He supposed that Jacob had his reasons and obviously Alice had told him more than he was letting on. Every couple of miles, he would survey his surroundings as he drove past, nothing but trees and deathly silence. He was alone. It comforted his aching soul.
He had stopped briefly in Seattle at the office of their Lawyer Jenks, with a little intimidation, Jenks hated the sight of Jasper anyway, he was able to get the documentation for the cabin in Alaska, it had been purchased with Cullen money, so Jenks could hardly put up a defence of client confidentiality. Jasper smiled to himself as he left the building with a map, leaving Jenks holding a damp towel to his head, protesting that he had a migraine coming on. If he kept driving he would be there in less than twenty four hours.
Feeling like he finally had some power back, he made his way across the bustling street back to his black jeep. Unaware that he was being watched from the alley a block from Jenk's office.
Poor love sick little fool, Jane watched as Jasper fiddled with the keys to his vehicle. Jane took in his lean frame, she had never been that interested in the opposite sex but she could understand the allure of this vampire, golden hair similar to her own, but it had a lusciousness that her own lacked. She watched as young girls and women, glanced at his him sideways some even more boldly, taking in his dashing figure. What was it about Bella that these vampires and wolves found so fascinating, it was beyond her. She had been stalking Jenks office for days hoping for one of them to turn up, thanks to Alec and his telepathic messages; she was able to find out a lot more about the Cullens. She was glad that Alec was missing her too otherwise she was sure he would not be so forthcoming.
There were very few people on the street, pulling up the hood of her cape up, she slinked her way down the block towards the lawyer's office. Luckily the afternoon was overcast and nobody noticed the petite blonde as she kept to close to the shop fronts, her head bowed. She reached Jenk's offices, stepping inside the door she stopped and listened, she could only hear one heart beat in the building. It had a good thump to it, though every third beat tended to be a little slow, this guy was due for heart attack soon, too much greasy junk food and cheap scotch mingled with his blood. Younger blood was always better, purer, more innocent. She liked that. Jenks was nearing middle age, he would not be able to put up much of a fight. She locked the front door and checked the exits, there was one on the ground floor, she locked it. This guy was not getting out of this office alive.
She ascended the stairs slowly, she was slight but she got a perverse pleasure stepping on the stairs with the creaks, the noise sent an eerie pulse through the building. She closed her eyes, she could see Jenks sitting in his chair, his back straight listening, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up, sitting there wondering and waiting, wondering what was coming up the stairs. Every one of his instinct's on high alert while his brain tried to calm him down, tell him there was nothing to worry about, it was the middle of the afternoon for god sake. She could see him rising, standing up behind his desk, waiting to greet whoever or whatever walked through his door. The thumping of his heart got faster the further up she climbed.
Jane rounded the top of the stairs and walked across the small landing, catching his attorney at law sign in the glass with a large crack down the middle as if someone had shut the door to hard. The crack looked old, Mr. Jenks obviously was not too concerned with appearances. Jane stood behind the door, knowing that Jenks could see her outline.
He did little to disguise his sigh of relief, she smiled to herself. With a swift motion she pulled her hood down and walked into the office.
Involuntarily Jenks took a step back, he had never seen eyes so red before. The drumming of his heart blocked everything out. She was only a young girl, but something deep inside told him, this was no ordinary girl. He had enough uneasiness with Jasper arriving unannounced and this girl seemed to have a similar energy about her but there was something more. He was always uneasy around Jasper and had put It down to Jasper's mannerisms, the nervous ticks, the anxiousness way he clasped and unclasped his hands but this was something more. This connected on a level that Jenks could never comprehend let alone understand. Her face looked set in stone, mask white, the eyes blood red, the lank blond hair, the odd clothes. They looked Dickensian. All this flew through his mind as they regarded each other. Delaying the moment they spoke as much as possible, there was a rickety fire escape outside the window in the spare room, he was pretty sure he would never make it in time. Rational was fighting every part of him, this was a young girl, no more than thirteen or fourteen. It was the inner knowing, something evil incarnate and it was standing in his office. Something meant to do him harm, he knew it every fibre of his body, and no amount of logic would stop it.
"Can I help you young lady?", his own voice sounded weak and the pitch was higher than normal.
Before he knew what was happening a flash caught the corner of his eye and he was lying on the patchy worn carpet, screaming, his arms flailing against Jane.